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Minnesota Timberwolves game preview: Oct. 24 vs Indiana Pacers

By Antoine Bass

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 22: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the winning shot. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 22: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the winning shot. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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SHENZHEN, CHINA – OCTOBER 05: Jimmy Butler #23, Andrew Wiggins #22, Karl-Anthony Townsand and Taj Gibson #67 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrate during the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors as part of 2017 NBA Global Games China at Universidade Center on October 5, 2017 in Shenzhen, China. (Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images)
SHENZHEN, CHINA – OCTOBER 05: Jimmy Butler #23, Andrew Wiggins #22, Karl-Anthony Townsand and Taj Gibson #67 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrate during the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors as part of 2017 NBA Global Games China at Universidade Center on October 5, 2017 in Shenzhen, China. (Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images) /

Major Key For Minnesota: Defense

The Timberwolves have no problem scoring, but on the other hand, their defense can use some work.

Minnesota is currently 25th in the league in opponent field goal percentage. This is alarming because the only teams worse than Minnesota are the Washington Wizards, Los Angles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns.

Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves /

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves came into the season as one of the favorites in the West, and you can’t be an elite team if you can’t defend. The Wolves are allowing opponents to shoot 47.5 percent from the field. This must change, and the change starts against the Pacers.

The Pacers are coming into the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field. The Timberwolves must make a defensive stand early and cannot let up at all.

The last thing the Wolves want to happen is for this Pacers team to get hot and upset the Wolves and get a win. With the names on their roster, saying the Wolves are underachieving on defense is an understatement.

This may be attributed to them being relatively new together and lacking chemistry or the fact that they’ve had a tough schedule so far facing the likes of Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Utah. In any case, this cannot happen when they face the Pacers.

This new look Timberwolves team must set a tone on defense, which in the long run will set a tone on offense as well. Good defense creates opportunities on offense and the Wolves must take advantage of this.

With Myles Turner once again being ruled out for the game, it seems that the Timberwolves have caught a break. The Pacers won’t have one of their deadliest and most consistent guys, which will definitely help the Wolves figure out defensive schemes and how to adjust to certain match ups.

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